GREENWICH — The Rev. James Lemler, the pastor of Christ Church in Greenwich and a minister with 41 years of service in the Episcopal Church, announced to his congregation this week that he was retiring this summer.

Invoking the words of Ecclesiastes — “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens” — Lemler said the time had come to retire.

Lemler wrote of his decision: “Different times, different seasons require different actions and attitudes. There is challenge and grace to all of them. Wisdom comes in being aware of where we are and what attitudes and actions are most healthy and hopeful.”

He said he and his wife, Sharon, had much to be thankful for.

“I’m looking forward to retirement, as is Sharon, my wife. There are some wonderful things beckoning us to this next season of our living,” Lemler wrote.

Lemler came to Greenwich in 2007. Previously, he served as the director of mission for the Episcopal Church, a posting that took him around the world. Before that, from 1998 to 2004, he was the dean and president of the Chicago-area Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. Ordained in 1976, Lemler has also worked in an urban parish and as a university chaplain.

Lemler has also been a prolific writer, authoring books and articles and was a contributor for the Greenwich Time “Perspectives” column. He has also has done consulting work with a number of religious and charitable organizations. He is a trustee at the Yale Divinity School.

Christ Church on East Putnam Avenue has gone through a major renovation in recent years much of which Lemler oversaw.

He and his wife, a clinical mental health specialist, have three daughters.